


Chocolate Cake and Other Intimacies

by Phantazmagoria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marauders, Sick Remus, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 09:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantazmagoria/pseuds/Phantazmagoria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Lupin is spending his birthday alone in the hospital wing. Severus brings him his homework to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chocolate Cake and Other Intimacies

Remus Lupin was about as miserable as a fifteen year old boy could possibly be. He whimpered in agony as he tried for the thousandth time to shift against the full body bind that he was confined to. Every inch of his body itched terribly and, left to his own devices, his skin would be nothing but a canvas of rent flesh. It was because he couldn't stop himself from scratching at the painful, burning rash that Madame Pomfrey had made it physically impossible to succumb to the temptation.

He understood the necessity of course. His arms were covered in bleeding, pussy sores. As much of a relief as it might seem to be, scratching would only prolong the agony and cause him more pain in the long run. And he couldn't NOT scratch. He writhed again, his body unable to move even a fraction of an inch. The only part of him not frozen in forced paralysis was his mouth, a safety precaution so that he could shout for Madame Pomfrey if he needed something.

Remus was only just able to keep himself from sobbing in misery. The physical torment was nothing compared to the tedious boredom. He almost wished he could ask Madame Pomfrey to keep him drugged with Dreamless Sleep for as long as it took for the rash to go away. 

Today, he didn't even have the company of his friends to keep him distracted. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and the Marauders, minus their suffering fourth man, had all gone off to enjoy themselves. They had left with half-hearted regrets and with promises to bring back Honeydukes chocolate and Zonko's latest products.

It did nothing to make Remus feel better. They had still left. And they hadn't even wished him a happy birthday.

A voice startled him out of his self-pity. "Well. Aren't you a rather sorry sight."

Remus nearly cried with relief. "Severus?"A shadow moved into his vision and Remus couldn't keep the smile from lighting up his face. How pathetic was he that a mere glimpse of a boy who until recently hadn't even thought very highly of him would make him almost weep with joy?

Remus cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Making myself feel better by wallowing in your misery. What else would I be doing?" He pulled his ebony wand from his sleeve and flicked it casually, summoning a chair from across the room. He sat as gracefully as he did anything and Remus swallowed hard, not for the first time wondering when the gawky stork of a boy had grown into a dark swan of a young man.

At that moment, Severus looked up and caught Remus staring. He arched a dark eyebrow in inquiry.

Remus cleared his throat again, wishing that he could move to reach the water glass on the bedside table. His mouth had gone unaccountably dry. "I don't know... maybe going to Hogsmeade with everyone else?"

Severus scoffed, his features twisting into a smirk as he leaned down to pull a book from his bag. "Hardly. And just what exactly is in Hogsmeade that could possibly interest me?"

"Honeydukes..."

A shrug. "Frivolous."

"Zonkos?"

A distasteful sneer. "Juvenile."

"Dervish and Banges?"

A sigh. "Overpriced and entirely unnecessary."

"Oh."

Severus coughed softly and lifted the Transfiguration text book in his hands so that Remus could see. "Besides. My time would be much better spent reviewing the classwork you've missed."

Severus bent his head down and began flipping through the text book. His dark hair swung forward to obscure his face and Remus couldn't help imagining what it would feel like to run his fingers through that dark curtain of hair as Severus looked down at him from above...

Remus blinked. Where had THAT thought come from?

Severus gazed up at him through his hair, one eyebrow raised. "Something to say, have you?"

"N-n-no..." Remus stammered. "N-not at all. That's just... that's very thoughtful of you."

"Thoughtful? Hardly." Severus seemed to think that was the end of it and settled the text on his lap. After a moment, he sighed and shook the dark strands of hair out of his eyes. "Kelpie Pox, to the extent that you seem to have contracted it, is quite debilitating for at least several weeks -- "

"Weeks?!" Remus wanted to cry, his skin assaulting his senses with an increased bout of itching that desperately wanted scratching that he was unable to grant it.

"Yes. Weeks. And if you were to get behind on several weeks worth of class material, who do you think will suffer for it?" Severus only gave Remus a moment to blink at him in confusion before biting out, "Me! That's who! How do you expect to be an even half-way decent study partner if you can't keep up? I will be at a disadvantage as you will be too far behind to effectively assist in my own revisions, and furthermore I will be hindered by your need for my assistance completing your own. It is far more practical, therefore, to avoid such an inefficient and blatant waste of both of our time by expending the little bit of effort that it would take to keep you abreast of current lessons. Now, are you done asking asinine questions? We still have more to cover after Transfiguration, I believe. You are solely on your own for Divination, however." Severus sniffed in disdain.

Remus smiled. "That's fine. Divination is pretty easy anyway." He would have scooted himself up in bed if he could have moved. The fact that he couldn't move at all continued to aggravate him.

Severus cleared his throat and began to read softly, covering the theory behind vanishing spells before moving into the practice of vanishing and conjuring small objects. Remus was only too happy to listen.

It wasn't until the sun had shifted to throw a ray of light directly across his eyes that Remus even acknowledged that time had passed. Severus had just finished saying something about levitating charms that Remus hadn't ACTUALLY been paying attention to. At some point during the last few hours, he had been lulled into a bit of a trance by the smooth cadence and rich tones of Severus' speaking voice.

It was almost bizarre to think that just last year, Sirius and James were making fun of the too skinny Slytherin for his cracking and shifting voice. It had settled over the summer into one of the most beautiful sounds that Remus could think he had ever heard. He hoped it was compensation enough for the unrelenting teasing that he had suffered for it. And if not, perhaps the fact that he had finally seemed to grow into his nose... or maybe just that Remus had grown to appreciate its aesthetic qualities...

Remus had gotten so lost thinking of Severus' voice and the other changes that his body had undergone since last year that he hadn't even noticed when the beautiful sound had stopped, nor that he was being watched with glittering dark eyes.

Remus blushed. "I'm sorry, Severus. I was trying to pay attention -- "

"No matter. We've been at it for a few hours. I could do with a break myself." He reached for his water glass and took a gulp of the water and Remus watched, fascinated at the bobbing of the other boy's... the other man's... Adam's apple. He licked his lips, not so much from thirst as from the thought of that glorious looking throat contracting as he swallowed other, more interesting fluids.

Severus had caught the look and blushed faintly. "Forgive me, Lupin. It had not occurred to me that you would be thirsty as well... In fact..." Severus stood with a stretch and a yawn, placing the text down on the seat. "I think it might even be lunch time, or near enough. Would you like me to find you something to eat?"

Remus would have shaken his head if he could move. He almost growled in frustration before feeling the familiar shiver of that agonizing itchiness that reminded him why it was so necessary that he not be able to move.

"No. That's quite alright. Madame Pomfrey should be in shortly with something for me, if you would like to go down..."

Severus nodded, then flashed a brief scowl. "Don't think that I'm not coming back. We've yet to cover History of Magic OR Potions."

"Thank you, Severus." Remus could never adequately explain exactly how much Severus' visit meant to him. He could never explain to any of his friends why doing HOMEWORK of all things, especially on his birthday, was anything other than a punishment, but oh! How he dearly appreciated it! How he dearly imagined that it was the enigmatic youth's way of saying that he appreciated Remus and valued their relationship... tentative, half-formed friendship that it was... and possibly wanted something more.

He was still thinking such thoughts of gratitude and longing when Severus returned not even a full hour later. This time, Remus caught the tell-tale shimmer of a disillusionment charm. He smiled as the charm dissolved, leaving a somewhat nervous looking Severus holding a plate of chocolate cake.

"You came back!"

Severus scowled, brow arching defiantly. "Naturally. You don't honestly think me masochistic enough to study History of Magic on my own, do you? If I must suffer, surely you can see the inherent joy of seeing to it that you suffer with me."

"Of course. Which explains why you brought me cake."

Severus' pale cheeks flushed an appealing shade of rose. "I did not bring the cake for you. I brought it for me. Though it seems that I'm not in the mood for it now that I'm here. I've noticed that you rarely have a concern for just how much junk you shovel past your mouth and therefore have little doubt that you will see that a piece of cake does not go to waste." He set the plate on the bedside table with a disdainful sniff.

Remus smirked. Not once in five years had he seen Severus Snape EVER eat chocolate cake. Was it coincidence that he happened to choose one of Remus' favorite desserts and bring it to his sick bed and then mysteriously be uninterested in eating it? He thought not, but wasn't willing to press the point. He was perfectly content at feeling quite warmed by the gesture.

"Could you..." His dry throat seized up and the words he had tried to speak dissolved in a fit of coughing. He wondered, not for the first time during this ordeal, if there was a way to drink water without actually moving to get it, rather than waiting for somebody to help him with the task.

A straw was pressed to his lips and Remus hastily sucked down the cool, fresh water. It soothed the parched discomfort in his throat and Remus opened his eyes to see Severus frowning in... was that concern in those unfathomable eyes?

"Thank you..."

Severus shrugged and set the water glass down before settling in his seat. "Let me know if you need more, will you? If you choke to death, I'll be rather put out and I can't exactly read your mind. You have to tell me when you're thirsty if you expect me to do anything about it, yeah?"

Remus would have nodded if he could. Being unable to move was rather obnoxious. "I will."

"Right. I suppose you'll be needing me to feed you that cake, won't you?"

"That's alright, Severus, you don't need to -- "

"Oh, shut it Lupin! It isn't a big deal, so just... stop making this awkward."

Severus took the plate and a fork and hesitantly held a piece just in front of Remus' mouth and holding it there as if he expected Remus to lean forward and meet him halfway as it were. Remus twitched his lips in a half smile. "I can't reach it..."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Of course not. You can't bloody move, can you?"

"No. Not really."

"Well, open up, then, I guess." 

Remus obediently opened his mouth and Severus delicately maneuvered the fork past his teeth. Remus closed his lips around the utensil, chocolate deliciousness flooding his tastebuds with endorphins. As Severus slowly pulled the fork out, Remus was struck by how intimate the act of feeding another person must be. Especially when the food was a decadently rich chocolate cake. It could have only been better if it was chocolate covered strawberries, with the juice dribbling down his chin and an easy excuse to capture one of those long fingers in his lips and suck the melted chocolate off. 

Remus moaned and closed his eyes. He thought he could hear Severus catch his breath. Then he heard a truly remarkable sound. Severus was laughing. Well, to be truthful, it was more of a soft chuckle, but still... a sound of mirth. Remus opened his eyes. "What?"

Severus was smirking. "I'm just imagining what Black would say if he ever found out you were cheating on him with a piece of chocolate cake."

Remus dropped his gaze. "He's not... I'm not... I mean..." 

Severus arched an eyebrow.

Remus swallowed. "Sirius isn't gay." That was the truth. Sirius wasn't gay, not at all. But it was a crafty dodge away from admitting that Remus himself might possibly be, just the slightest bit...

Severus arched an eyebrow. "Well, he could have fooled me. Open up."

Remus obeyed, carefully accepting the offered morsel. They were silent for some minutes while Severus fed Remus the cake. The cake was almost entirely gone when Remus spoke again. 

"What would you... what would you say if Sirius WAS gay?"

Severus frowned. "If SIRIUS was gay?" He pursed his lips. "Why?"

"I don't know... just... what would you think?"

"I don't like thinking about Black even when its unavoidable. I certainly don't spend my free time conjuring up images of him. I don't see why you think I should care if he was a shirt-lifter or not."

Remus frowned. He hadn't exactly gotten the answer that he wanted... Shirt-lifter wasn't exactly a NICE term, but it wasn't exactly a derogatory term, either. He didn't know if the tentative friendship that was forging between he and Severus would be damaged, or even ruined, if the other knew that Remus was captivated by the thought of sucking chocolate off of his fingers. It wasn't something you went around telling people. 

No, he would much rather keep his peace and have Severus' friendship than to risk everything for an unlikely possibility that maybe, just maybe, the quiet, studious Slytherin returned his feelings. It would be enough to be friends at least. Friends at long last. Not for the first time, Remus rather wished that he hadn't begged the Sorting Hat to put him in Gryffindor. Then, maybe, he and Severus could have been friends this whole time... But then he wouldn't have been friends with Jamie or Siri or Peter... It was a hard trade off. 

Severus cleared his throat. "Well, it's about time we got back to studying, don't you think?" He leaned across to set the plate of leftover chocolate crumbles on the side table. 

Remus sighed happily. What could be more pleasant on a day like today than good chocolate, good company, and Severus' beautiful voice making mincemeat of the otherwise dreary goblin wars. He would take Severus' narration over Professor Binns' any day. 

Then the warm blush of pleasant feelings that the cake and companionship and filled him with turned to absolute mortification when he saw that Severus had picked up the book that was on the bedside table and was frowning deeply at the cover.

"Oh, shit. I can... I can explain that..." If Remus could have sunk into the bed and have it swallow him whole at the moment, he would have gladly let it happen.

"Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Tales of High Seas Buggery... Please don't tell me you actually READ this stuff?" Severus flipped open the book and Remus wanted to die.

Remus stammered. "N-n-no, of course not! Not at all! It was... it was a joke... Sirius left it here -- "

"Ah! That figures. This sort of thing WOULD appeal to his juvenile tastes. I mean, really. 'Man-stick?' 'Love tunnel?' Oh, listen to this one. 'Archie shivered as Captain Hornblower stood proudly over him. His naked body fully on display for his Captain's appraisal, Archie clutched the sopping brush and scrubbed the wooden deck as hard as he hoped his Captain would scrub his bowels. The proud, jutting main staff that stood before his lips like the prow of a ship under full sail was delicious looking and he spilled sudsy water across the floor. 'For a cabin boy, you sure do like to clean. In my experience, though, cabin boys should be dirty.' Archie gasped as the Captain's stiff plank docked itself fully in the tight channel of Archie's bum. He was used to the passage of tall ships, but the massive galleon that was his Captain caused him to pant, 'Oh, yes, fuck me, Captain Hornblower, fuck me hard like a ship capsizing on rough waters!'" Severus snickered. "Merlin, this is horrible."

Horrible was right. Remus thought that he couldn't be any more horrified by the situation, that was until he opened his eyes and noticed that another part of his body had apparently been listening to the racy material rolling so eloquently out of Severus' mouth in that positively sinfully seductive voice of his... And the proof was in the sheet that had tented up just over that treacherous and unreasonable appendage.

Go down, go down!

His erection did not go down. No amount of begging or pleading was going to change it's mind, either. It found Severus' voice just as much of a turn on as his brain did.

And then Severus looked up. And stopped speaking. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out and his mouth closed. Severus Snape was speechless. Because he had seen how turned on Remus was by the slutty trash novel that Sirius Black had jokingly left behind.

Remus Lupin was about as miserable as a fifteen year old boy could possibly be.

Severus coughed softly and set the book back down. He fidgeted with his cloak for a moment, his cheeks flushing even more furiously than Remus' were if that was possible. 

"It doesn't mean anything. He just left it here to embarrass me... It's just his idea of a sick prank." 

Severus glanced away, his hair falling to obscure his face. "I see. I can't say that I find his particular brand of humor all that amusing."

Remus winced. "Neither do I, actually."

It just figured, didn't it? Even without actually being here, Sirius was more than capable of ruining EVERYTHING. Remus rather wanted to cry. Especially when he noticed Severus edging toward the door.

"I... uh... I uh, well. I seem... I seem to have forgotten the text book that we need. I should... I should go and get it..." He turned and left and Remus wanted to call him back, to say that it was Severus' VOICE that had excited his libido and not the smutty words that he was speaking... but it WAS those smutty words, Merlin's beard! Hearing that voice speak those words had been his undoing.

He closed his eyes and tried not to let the tears escape. The salt water would sting his already irritated skin, he was sure. 

He wasn't certain how long he lay there with his eyes closed, feeling miserable and achy and itchy and lonely and so pitiful that he could hardly stand himself. A soft cough at the side of his bed startled him and Remus' eyes snapped open.

Severus stood there, fidgeting with a book in his hands. "I, erm... Well, I thought..." Severus took a breath and let it out. Remus could always tell when he was nervous because his eyes darted so quickly from side to side, ensuring that danger wasn't sneaking up behind him. "If you like... THAT... sort of thing..." He gestured vaguely towards the book on the bedside table that Remus had already resolved to destroy with fire the moment he could use his wand again. "I thought you might like this better. It's, well... It has a plot for one thing... and it's not so patently ridiculous..."

Remus blinked, examining the cover. Two men stood holding hands with the moon above them and a wolf standing guard underneath their entwined fingers. 'The Beast Within' was scrawled in blood red letters across the picture. Remus itched to move, wanted to reach out and take it and read the back and flip through the middle. His throat was dry, and his voice croaked like a toad, "Wha... What's it about?"

Severus shrugged and placed the book on the bed side table. His dark eyes glimmered and his flushed face made him look almost feverish. "It's about... well, there's this werewolf that falls in love with a man and takes him as his mate and he has to defy his pack and there's an evil wizard that tries to split them up... It's a bit complicated, but the story is good, and I guarantee that you won't find a single man-stick in there. Or bowel scrubbing, for that matter. I mean... who really wants their bowel scrubbed, for Merlin's sake?"

Severus turned an even darker shade of red that reached all the way to his ears. It was, in Remus' mind, just one more reason to appreciate the man's pale skin tone. After all, the only difference between fishbelly white and moonbeam pale was the perspective of the beholder. Severus' skin made Remus think of the moonlight on the first night of the waning cycle.

Severus coughed delicately. "IF you like that sort of thing..."

Remus gave Severus a shaky smile and wished again that he could move so that he could reach out and give the clearly embarrassed Slytherin a comforting touch on the arm. Or a desperately passionate snog. Or even a good shag. Any of the above, really.

Remus took a deep breath to steel himself. "Would you... That is... if it wouldn't be too much trouble... Could you...?"

Severus sighed. "Spit it out, for Merlin's sake. I can't read your bloody mind."

"Would you read it to me? Tomorrow, maybe?"

A moment passed. Then a second. Then more until it seemed as if the room had been quiet for minutes on end. Then Severus smiled shyly. It was a smile that Remus was certain nobody else in the whole school had ever seen on that face before. A smile only for him. "If you wish it. But not until we've made it through Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures at the very least. And we've yet to make it through History of Magic today. Just because you're ill, doesn't mean you have permission to be lax and lazy."

Severus sat in the chair and pulled out the text book and began reading. 

Remus Lupin was about as content as a fifteen year old boy could possibly be.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a birthday fic for Azure Rosa =)


End file.
